Brewing success
Coffee sale the latest fundraising initiative for Annapolis Royal pool
A Bear River coffee company has dove into the deep end to help a community group raise the required funds to replace the liner of the outdoor pool in Annapolis Royal.
“We do fundraisers for a number of school and community groups, so it kind of seemed like a natural fit to do one in our own backyard,” said Erin Welch, who owns and operates Sissiboo Coffee Roaster with her husband
Jon.
The couple lives in Bear River with their two children, who are longtime users of the seasonal pool.
“The pool really was just such a golden gem for recreation, for leadership, for a central hub,” she said. “You could always say to your kids, ‘OK, I’ll meet you at the pool at 3:30’ and you knew that they would know people there.
“It’s essential to fitness, it’s essential to mental health, it’s essential to community life.”
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN
The Friends of the Annapolis Pool Society launched a $300,000 fundraising campaign earlier this year to fund the needed work and ensure the pool reopens in 2025. As of April 19, it has secured about $138,000 of the funds.
Welch said they spoke with society members in the winter and decided to host a fundraiser.
Jon came up with a new roast, a light medium, that is being used for the initiative. The one-pound bag of coffee sells for $20 with $5.50 going to pool project. The coffee was launched April 19 and is available at Sissiboo’s Annapolis Royal and Bear River cafés and online. There’s also plans to have it available at a few other locations in Annapolis County.
Society members are appreciative of Sissiboo’s assistance and said it reassures them the community is behind the project and noted the new fundraiser helps keep the momentum going.
“It’s wonderful to see other partners join us in raising the money for the pool because it reminds us it’s not just us in this game, it’s the whole community,” said society secretary Anna Kate Newman.
“They’re passionate about saving the pool as are we.”
LABEL DESIGN
Society members shared news the pool wouldn’t reopen in 2024 due to the needed repairs and plans for a capital
campaign at a public forum in February. During the session, kids were sitting at a table making “pool-inspired drawings,” said society chairperson Lesley Hodder.
“One of those drawings is now the featured artwork on the bag of coffee,” she explained.
Reed Skinulis, a nine-yearold Parkers Cove resident, came up with the label’s design.
“I was thinking pool and I thought maybe I could do something with colours,” he
said, noting he also wanted to add water and a heart to show how much the pool means to him.
“It’s a great pool. Pools shouldn’t be inside; they should be outside in the sun.”
Reed said he’s appreciative of the community volunteers’ efforts to raise the funds to reopen the pool in 2025.
“It feels good that they’ve worked this hard to do it.”
Hodder came up with the name for the coffee, Deep End.
“It seems to fit,” Welch said. “It’s a massive amount of money that’s needed.”
FUTURE PLANS
A bottle drive was held April 20 and there are plans for a five-kilometre fun run on May 19. Artists have joined forces, under the direction of Wayne Boucher, to do an online auction, beginning June 1, with proceeds to the cause.
“Annapolis Royal and area have so many amazing artists,” Newman said.
The society is finalizing the contract with the company that will do the work and is also awaiting word on a provincial grant it applied for. The Town of Annapolis Royal recently passed its budget with $30,000 committed to the pool on top of the $8,000 it annually provides.